Spike-puller.



C. H. KUGLER.

SPIKE FULLER.

APPLICATION YILED DBO. 9, 1913.

@nu auto@ Patented Apr. 21, 1914.

CHARLES H. KUGrLER,` OF COZAD, NEBRASKA.

SPIKE-FULLER.

Speccationof Letters Patent. Patented A1311 21, 1914.

Application led December 9, 1913. Serial No. 805,520.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that. I, CHARLES H. KUGLER, a citizen of the United States, residing in Cozad, in the county of Dawson and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spike-Fullers, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide improved means for extract-ing spikes from railway cross-ties.

According to my invention I employ a light but strong frame adapted to rest on a tie and which carries a brace provided with claws adapted to grasp the tread portion of a rail and thus hold the frame erect and steady. Vithin the frame is mounted a hanger which is adapted to swing from its upper pivotal connection and to the lower end of which is pivotally connected an operating lever having a toothed segment which engages a rack bar adapted to move vertically in the hanger and which is provided at its' lower end with a claw adapted to engage the head of a spike. By operating the lever the rack bar may be raised and thus draw the spike from the tie without bending it, and the hanger may then be swung outwardly from the frame to remove the spike from the claw of the rack bar.

My improvements are illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which,

Figure l is a perspective View of a spike puller embodying my improvements showing how it is applied and operated. Fig. 2 shows a vertical central section thereof. Fig. 3 is a detail view in perspective of the rack bar and the spike-engaging claw which it carries. Fig. l is a perspective view of the swinging hanger.

The main frame may be of any suitable construction. bars A connected attheir lower ends by a cross-piece a, and spaced apart at their upper ends which converge or are closer together than they are at their lower end s, being connected by a cross bolt B to which 1s also connected a brace bar C which is provided with claws c at its lower end adapted to engage the tread portion of a rail It. The

As shown it comprises two lower part of the brace bar C is connected with the frame bars A by a U-shaped frame D. In this way a supporting frame is constructed of three main parts rigidly connected together. The lower ends of the bars A and the cross piece a are adapted to rest on a cross-tie T when extracting a spike S. Within the frame is hung on the bolt B a hanger E comprising parallel sides c and a closed end portion e which is cut away at c2 to receive the brace bar C. Otherwise the frame is open. The hanger is free to swing vbetween the bars A and it receives and guides a rack bar F, the teeth f of which engage a segment of Vteeth g on an operating lever G pivoted at g to the hanger E. At its lower end the rack bar F is provided with a claw H adapted to engage the head of the spike S. This claw is provided with a recess 1t closed on all sides except one which may be called its front side, while the lower wall of the recess is formed with a slot it. The claw thus constructed may be applied to a spike, in the manner indicated in Figs. l and 2, the head of the spike passing into the recess 71. while the slot h enables the head to thus pass and to be so received in the recess that the walls thereof will engage the head of the spike in the manner shown. When the frame is erected Von a tie, by means of the handle G, the

hanger E is swung inward and the claw H is caused to engage the head of the spike and then by depressing the lever G the spike may be pulled from the tie without bending or otherwise injuring the spike. After the spike has in this way been withdrawn from the tie, the hanger may be swung outward from the frame to remove the spike if desired, or the spike may be removed while the hanger is within the frame, but by providing the pivoted hanger sufficient lateral movement is given to the rack bar to permit the claw to engage the sp-ike even without swinging the hanger out of the frame.

The claw is preferably made of tool steel. Other parts of the machine may be made of any desired material.

It is not necessary that the machine should he of large dimensions and it may be provided with a bail M by which it may easily be Carried from place to place.

I claim as my invention:

A spike puller, comprising a supporting frame, a swinging hanger pivoted at its upper end to the frame, a mok bar guided vertieztlly in the hanger and swinging therewith, t spike-engaging' claw Carried by the mok bai', and Ln operating lever pvotnlly connected with the hanger, swinging therewith and engaging' the rack bar.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my naine.

CHARLES H. KUGLER. lVitnesses T. A. TAYLOR, HENRY VoNDnn BEHRENS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. C. 

